Study: Michigan teens smoking and drinking alcohol less

Teenage alcohol and cigarette use is down across the country, and Michigan is no exception.

That's according to the state's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which collects information on Michigan high school students.

Though many risky behaviors are on the decline, obesity remains the state's biggest health concern, when it comes to students.

Kyle Guerrant helped with the study. He says the success of the anti-tobacco campaign could help reduce other health concerns.

"Smoking isn't a cool thing anymore, and on the obesity side of things, you see researchers trying to use the tobacco model as a model to apply towards getting our country at a healthier weight,” says Guerrant.

Guerrant says students consume half of their calories at school.

He says healthier options in cafeterias is a good first step in reducing student obesity.

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A new Michigan State University study finds the peak of teen misuse of prescription drugs comes earlier than previously believed.

MSU researchers say teen misuse of prescription drugs peaks at age 16, not the later teens as previously believed. Many children start using pain killers and other prescription drugs to get high in their tweens.

The MSU study shows about 1 in 60 young people between 12 and 21 years old starts abusing prescription pain relievers each year. That ratio rises to roughly 1 in 30 at age 16.

Jim Anthony is a professor of Epidemiology at MSU. He says the study shows it’s important to get the public health message against misusing prescription drugs to children when they are in middle school.

“We don’t want to delay public health programs…until the high school years or college years," says Anthony, "We want to begin to think about them as early as 12 and 13.”

Anthony says it may also be a good idea for doctors to write some pain killer prescriptions for just a few day supply instead of the more common one or two week supply. He says that might reduce the number of prescription drugs that sit unused in the family medicine cabinet.

Anthony says parents need to pay close attention to their teenager and their medicine cabinet and properly dispose of unneeded painkillers and other prescription drugs.

The MSU study appears in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

A program based out of Flint teaches kids the fundamentals of songwriting and music production. But the songs kids write are not your typical bubble-gum pop. The program is a professional music studio that travels to schools and community centers in Flint, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo. It's called Studio on the Go.

Teen deaths are on the decline in Michigan. That’s according to an annual report that compares indicators on the wellbeing of children.

According to the report, Michigan ranks better than the national average for the death rate among teens. Jane Zehnder-Merrell is the “Kids Count” project director at the Michigan League for Human Services. She says teens are getting into fewer fatal car accidents. But she says Michigan is experiencing a national trend toward more teen murders.

“It’s troubling to see that as we push down one rate another rates starts going up; the homicide rate. Suicide rate has remained relatively stable, but we may see increases in that as well with the stress.”

There has been a 64 percent increase in the child poverty rate in Michigan over the past decade, according to the report.

Zehnder-Merrell says increases in unemployment and home foreclosures affect the wellbeing of children.

“Very stressful, very difficult times for families, even though in Michigan I think part of it too is we’re used to having a lot more people living a middleclass life and having access to housing and good jobs and good health insurance, and the world is changing.”

Zehnder-Merrell says many budget and program cuts and made in the Legislature have exacerbated child poverty issues. That includes a proposed four-year cap on cash assistance that is set for a final vote when lawmakers return to Lansing next week.

Kids don't get enough exercise, and it's really bad for their heath. That's what many adults told a national survey. Lack of exercise was number one on the list of top-ten child health concerns according to the survey conducted by C. S. Mott Children's Hospital. Obesity and smoking rounded out the top three health concerns for kids.